Margaret, I can't help you with any answers.Last year was my 1st year with a brug inground.But,I will probably do both planting inground & in containers.If your not sure about growing requirements,if put in containers, you could move around accordingly.
Theresa

My 2 cents worth, all my brugs are in the ground except the Peaches & Cream,it lives in a pot.They all seem to be doing fine.
Bonnie

We are headed to the buckets this year due to having to move them twice a year, these will them be sunk into the larger pots. PNW there is no way we can continue to sink them in the ground with density in growth and high water tables here.

I will keep on top of mites better this year!

GRRR-r-r-r!

More planted in the ground. It was way easier to keep them from drying out than in the pots & I didn't have to water them 3 times a day. They also don't keep blowing over like the pots. The roots were no big deal to dig & they weren't as big as I expected.

Better labels when I bring the cuttings in. I thought I was so careful & still ended up with a bunch of NOIDs. All named varieties so when they bloom this year, I will know what they are for next year if I don't trade or give them away for the space.

I may have to throw one of my children out of the house so I can have the extra bedroom for plants next fall.

We are putting up a lean to greenhouse so it will be easier to drag them in & out in nice weather.

Linda

I grew them both ways..and...in ground doesn't require
quite as much watering. On the other hand, the ones that
were left in pots made my job much easier when it was time
to move them in.
Linda, I got mine all mixed up also....labels faded. I'll
definitely be more careful with my markers this time
around.

Margaret

I will try some inground this year now that I have enough to risk some outside and see how they do overwinter. I'm sure they would be fine in my zone. I was just chicken since I only had one.

I have all of my brugs in pots...I dont have room to plant them all in the ground and it also helps to move them where they do better..my yard isnt full sun anywhere so I move them to find the perfect place...what I will do different?..my hubby and I just made a lighting stand for some 2 feet shop lights and I will be growing more seeds...I have 2 pods growing with some crosses I had in the garden...Judy

I'll put all mine in the ground next summer. And, I'm going to try to train them to one standard trunk for each one. Then in the Fall I'll dig, pot and keep in my cool garage where there's still a little space. Although you'd think a two-car garage would have lots of space, right? Think again.

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Here's the backyard along the fence where a lot will be going:

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Dave looks like you have lots of space to plant... Nice yard..Kylie

Dave you have a beautiful yard, I think your Brugs will be very happy. I love your Sago palm - have two of them myself. :0)Rigo

Wow, nice yard Dave. I tried to grow a Sago last summer, but it didn't make it. Maybe it was all the rain we had. Not sure, but love yours.
Debbie

Wow Dave - I just love that palm! Are those more palms there along the garage?

Very nice yard - boy are your Brugs going to love that!

Looks like a beautiful area to plant those brugs, Dave.
You have a lovely back yard.

Margaret

All,

Thanks! We just bought the house last June. I've removed four smallish (20-foot) trees and we had professional tree removers remove four humongous ones.

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Now we have a lot of sun streaming in and we can add more broadleaf evergreen trees along the fences for screening. I've already put in a Little Gem magnolia, Mattie Mae Smith Magnolia, several hollies, camellias, and cryptomerias. Much more work to be done! Of course brugs will be peppered in here and there!

{{gwi:443508}}

All,

Thanks! We just bought the house last June. I've removed four smallish (20-foot) trees and we had professional tree removers remove four humongous ones.

{{gwi:443506}}

Now we have a lot of sun streaming in and we can add more broadleaf evergreen trees along the fences for screening. I've already put in a Little Gem magnolia, Mattie Mae Smith Magnolia, several hollies, camellias, and cryptomerias. Much more work to be done! Of course brugs will be peppered in here and there!

{{gwi:443508}}

...it didn't seem to go at first.

techno-- yes on the south side of the garage I have planted some 'hardy' palms-- a large windmill, a hardy strain of Sabal palmetto, a needle palm, along with some 'hardy' citrus, which I don't hold much hope for, a loquat, eucalyptus, etc, etc. The palms are mostly covered for their first season after transplant. The largest trachycarpus had been growing at my other place for five years with little protection and had gotten quite large. I couldn't leave it behind. The sago goes in the garage during cold spells, then back out again.

Dave,
Very pretty yard! Your brugs are going to look real nice
there.

Karen

Looks great. I bet your neighbors will be in awe, especially when they see all your palms. Will you plant some hardier bananas as well?

Sometime a little pruning is a good thing, before Mother Nature helps ya out. Look nice!!

What a nice yard. I love that big planting area under the tree. Something like that is what I am hoping for up front this spring.

sultry, I have planted M. basjoos in several places already. Here's how they do in Northern Virginia once they get established (this is at my old place):
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Dave - I planted a musa bajoo next to my pine tree (for shock value) - I forgot to mulch it.

I don't think it's gonna make it - but boy - do I love the look of yours!

Just fabulous!

I will put many more brugs in the ground here.

Some I will dig entirely up and whack down to 12 inches like Ruth Ann, others I will whack the entire thing and grow the "trunk" cutting in a bucket of water for the following season.

Only a couple will I keep in pots. The pots get too big to haul in and out (unless my next purchase is a hand truck!)

And of course - I will now have enough to share cuttings in 2008!

WOW!!! Look at all that firewood...LOL You have made some wonderful changes... I look forward to seeing it this season when all your plants are in full throttle...
Kylie

Yes, we have a load of firewood now. But it will take at least a year for it to dry before we can use it. I just bought a good splitter maul and have started working on the wood pile. The oak splits really well. The hickory is very difficult! Now I know why they make handles out of hickory. But it's kind of satisfying (tho a lot of work) to get a huge, heavy piece of wood to split in two.

Remembering Tweeb....you'll have CUTTINGS to share in
2008!!! :) I hope that I'll have something to share also.

Dave, I must have a M bajoo...quite stunning.

Margaret

Oh - I'm hoping that I'll have TONS to share. I'm hoping I have some that others will want.

I'm anticipating that I'll be choppin' and shippin' next year.

Ok - some people have a very "manicured" landscape. (My parents are like that.) A couple of "focus" plants. So too many of one thing wouldn't work for those kinds of yards.

Well, number 1, I live in an area where down the street, they like "meatball" hedge plants. Those little boxwoods they trim into balls? Drives me nuts. Perfect little lawns, and their little roses out front with the single birch tree in front. And they all look the same! So ANYTHING I can do to be different? That's a good thing. (grin)

My yard is a hodge podge. Good thing I don't have a "home owners association" (grin) They'd be screaming at me. One of the advantages of buying a rickety old house from the 50s. (grin)

I still haven't given up the idea of trying to create a mini-bog to grown a single gunnera manicota. (grin)

Margaret, where in VA do you live? I have a small extra basjoo.

Dave, your basjoo's look great!!!

Dweeb, I could never live somewhere with an HOA either, what ~ pay for someone else to tell me what to do? Not on your life LOL!

SJN - oh I know. And I hear stories about those HOA - complaining about so-and-so - trees too close to the sidewalk - and so-and-so put in a blah blah and that's not an approved tree. . . .

One day - I'd had it with the discussion before a meeting.

I just outright said "you guys need a life man." He just looked at me and said something about the "rules" and I said - hey, it's a TREE - be glad he spent the money and put in a beautiful tree - gawd you guys really need a life and need to find something more important to focus on. Here's one for you - your HOA doesn't have any rules about must have a lawn. The guy could have dirt and there'd be nothing you can do about it. Think about that for a while." (grin)

I haven't heard them complain around me since. (grin)

Dave the new house looks great. Congratulations.
Karyn

Dave,
That's a nice house and a nice piece of property! Can't wait to see those brugs in the summer.Congrats!
Theresa

Dave, I live in Chatham (45 min S of Lychburgh.

Margaret

Im going to try my hand at planting my biggest brug in the
ground this year, I started out last summer with four brugs
and between ebay, trades and some very nice folks here on
the forum and BGI my collection has increased. :)
Hubby keeps saying where you gonna put all of these????
I just tell him, dont worry about it! I`ll double stack em!
He is definately not a plant person, calls all my plants
weeds!

LOL - good luck gardenpaw.

I'm going to do that also. Hey - how big are the ones you have in pots right now?

I'm very excited to see how well they do "in ground" - from what everyone has said - if ya do it right - they're magnificent.

Heh Dweeb thanks!
The biggest one that Im going to put in the ground this
summer is about 5 ft. tall, Im 5`4 (just went back to see
how tall it is) and it has three trunks coming out of the
planter that are (I just got a tape measure) LOL 7in.
around, I have had that one the longest bought it probably
6 years ago on ebay it`s a white sauveolens and the last
flush it had 65 flowers and the fragrance was heavenly.
The year before it had even more flowers per flush thats
why I think it needs to go in the ground, getting to big
for it`s britches, (pot) LOL
The others are alot smaller then that one.
Which ones are you puuting in the ground?

Karen

I'm DEFINATELY going to start with my "january" brugs from last year directly in the ground. Noids. Pinks, whites and yellows.

A couple are 6 1/2 feet tall, largest trunk diameter is probably 1 1/2 inches - maybe 2" at the bottom. Those are WAY too big for the pots. They would probably be ok in the pots a couple mroe years - but I would LIKE to see how well they do in the ground. See if they hit 10' this year.

I've got some cuttings I have VERY high hopes for to put in the ground.

Some will go into pots in the ground though so I can yank them easily come frost time. Those may remain active through the winter - might be too young to force dormancy the first year.

You sound like you've got a MONSTER on your hands there. Do you keep it at 5 feet? Or is it naturally only a "bush" type?

Sounds like you have some nice ones to put in the ground.
Yes, the trunks are hugh, thats why it`s going in the
ground this summer, it`s not a bush type thats the height
after I cut it back this fall for cuttings, it was taller
then I am.
Thats a good idea to put some in ground in pots, think I`ll
try that too.

If I remember correctly - there are specific instructions about holes in the side - I think it's no holes in the side so that there aren't any lateral roots.

I'd have to go search - can't rmeember exactly now.

But from what I understand - it's vrrrrrrrrooooooop! right out of the ground. And you're not damaging the main root ball.

I'm kind of excited about trying that way.

If you're planting the pots directly in the ground, you'll need to enlarge the drainage holes on the sides so the roots don't strangle themselves as they get big. You want drainage holes on the sides rather than the bottom, because when you dig in Fall, you can sever the side roots more easily with a sharpshooter spade than you can with roots growing out the bottom of the container.

THAT'S it Dave!

Thanks! Couldn't remember exactly because I wasn't in a position to try it last year.

Hey - did you see the pic Ruth Ann had of one of those "tub" with the rope handles? Of course this thing would be MONSTROUS - but WHAT a GREAT IDEA!

I don't know, what do you guys think? Do you think there's any real advantage to pot-planting vs. just planting it in the ground? I mean, you're going to have to sever roots anyway when you dig in the Fall anyway. And I think the roots will have more freedom being out of the pot. Yes, there will be more trauma when you dig in the Fall, but I usually defoliate them at the same time, so no big deal, right?

I haven't tried planting in pots inground but I think it would probably be easier to just cut off a few side roots than digging up the whole root ball, trimming roots & trying to cram it into a pot. Less trauma to the plant. It's easier to keep them watered inground, I don't know if the pot would make any difference in that. I am going to try a couple inground in pots & see how they do. Most of mine will just be planted this year. Last year, they started out as little 6 to 12 inch plants & grew to between 4 & 7 feet, ground or pot. Out of 20+ plants, only Snowbank didn't bloom.

Linda

I'd have to say the ones I planted directly in the ground grew to amazing proportions vs. ones in pots. And less watering, especially if mulched. Yes, it's traumatic to the plant to dig it up, but it beats taking a cutting right? You're starting with something so big and it will likely bloom quite early.

I've really hacked some of my roots when digging out of the
ground, however, it hasn't bothered growth or bloom
production. The ones in pots grew nicely and most of them
bloomed late in the season...lots and lots of watering because I'm sure that their roots needed larger pots (more
soil) to grow in. I was on the verge of giving up...but,
what a show after the rains came. I'm on a binge to collect
nicer and slightly larger pots eventhough I plan to plant
a many as possible in the ground.

Margaret